


Candy Kisses

by inamamagic



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Parvati is a mum, PostWar, nonbinary!Cho, trans!Parvati
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24916363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inamamagic/pseuds/inamamagic
Summary: Parvati runs a chocolate shop, but her sales are flagging. When Cho comes in with a proposal, she's more than happy to take it on.Written for HP Femslash Minifest May/June prompts: Music/Potions/Parenting.
Relationships: Cho Chang/Parvati Patil
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11
Collections: Music - Potions - Parenting - May/June2020





	Candy Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was also inspired by [this promp](https://hpfemslash-minifest.tumblr.com/post/618416556104384513/character-a-owns-a-magical-chocolate-shop)t: "character A owns a magical chocolate shop; character B makes potions — what happens when they team up to create a new line of confections ?!"

This wasn’t the first time Cho had walked into The Lovebite. Parvati would know. She noticed every time. 

They’d never really been _close_ , unless you count being bonded by war-trauma, in which case Parvati’s been bonded against her will to tens of people that share little in common with her except for the common experience amongst her generation of being little more than a child-soldier. It had been strange, coming to that conclusion after Sofiya was born. That one day, her little girl was going to be fifteen, which was exactly how old Parvati and her sister had been when they began training to fight in a war, a legacy that had been foisted upon them by a megalomaniac in the guise of an educator, and a government so inept that they had to rely on schoolchildren to fight their battles. It made her wonder if there was any merit to homeschooling after all.

Not that Parvati wouldn’t do it all over again if she had the choice - she and Padma had chosen to stay behind, chosen to pick up their wands and stand against the hoard, only seventeen with nothing in their arsenals but training from a secret duelling club. Postwar though, the bitterness had set in, which was completely unhelpful when you were trying to run a chocolate shop.

The first time Cho had walked in was a couple of weeks after the first opening. Parvati had been euphoric from the thrill of success (and from over-imbibing on some of the stock). She’d been chatting with Lavender and Padma by the counter when Cho slid into her line of sight. Parvati hadn’t noticed her at first; with her shorter hair and her shoulders broader than they had been at Hogwarts, she’d initially mistaken her for a stranger. The moment it had registered, she’d dropped the box she was holding.

“What’s gotten into you?” Padma had asked, kneeling to pick up the box, but Lavender, with her intuition about Parvati as astute as her and Padma’s twin-bond, had looked up and smiled.

“Whew,” she’d sighed. “Cho Chang looks good.”

Parvati had scrambled into the back before Lavender could finish her sentence.

Every other instance of Cho coming into the shop had been similar; Parvati would spot her and hide, leaving Lavender or Padma to deal with her. After Sofiya was born, she hadn’t been down in the shop during business hours very much, but with her daughter now a boisterous eight-month-old, she’d decided to make a comeback (and maybe this time, have the guts to face Cho without feeling like she was disintegrating into a flustered mess).

She should’ve known her luck wouldn’t allow it. Sofiya had woken up in a temper that rivalled Hermione Granger during revision week. Not even Lavender could calm her down, and she was usually the best at it out of the three of them. With Padma busy with the accounts and Lavender trying to deal with incoming stock and handling customers at the same time, Parvati was in no mood to see someone that made the last shreds of her steadiness fall to pieces.

“Hey,” Cho said, walking up to her with a smile that nearly made Parvati keel over. Sofiya chose this moment to grab a fistful of her hair and _pull_.

“Ow! Yes, how can I help?”

Cho looked a little bemused. Parvati tried not to look at how nicely her shoulders were filling out her robes, or how her hair, short on the sides and long on top, had a brilliant blue shine when it caught the light. “This might sound a little unorthodox,” Cho started, eyes darting from Sofiya to Parvati. “But I was hoping if you could spare a minute…”

Even if Parvati had wanted to (and Merlin did she want to) she couldn’t have. Cho had barely gotten the words out when Sofiya decided now would be a wonderful time to scream bloody murder right into Parvati’s ear, screwing up her face and bawling as loud as her little lungs would let her. Between trying to hold up in front of a crush and having her nerves frayed by a wailing baby, Parvati’s last piece of good sense snapped like a piece of chocolate on testing day.

“It’s not a great time,” she said curtly, turning heel and heading towards the staircase. Being on the shop floor today was clearly not going to work. Parvati didn’t spare Cho a second look as she walked upstairs, rocking Sofiya in her arms.

* * *

Cho didn’t show up again for a couple more weeks, by which time Parvati had run around in so many circles of regret that she felt dizzy. Her parents were visiting, which gave her a childfree day, but days like that were usually spent looking through the accounts with Padma and worrying her lower lip till it was sore. The Lovebite had started out with a bang, but that bang had whittled down to a bit of a whimper in the years since. Honeydukes was just too much competition - they had an outlet in every single wizarding locale in Britain. Even the cake shop next door was now under their management. Parvati had received plenty of offers (‘ _you’ll still run the shop, it’ll be a collaboration, we’ll take care of the management so you can focus on the product_ ’) but she’d turned them all down. Better to try and fail to run her own shop than sell out to a confectioner that was beginning to cut corners more often than not. The last Acid Pop Padma had tricked her into eating had only made her tongue sting - lucky for Parvati, obviously, but it said a little too much about Honeydukes’ production line.

It was almost closing time, and the last few stragglers were milling about the shelves, squinting at boxes and lazily scooping chocolate into little paper bags. Parvati was peering into a jar of mint chocolate hearts when she heard a soft cough behind her. 

She turned and a truly ridiculous sounding laugh escaped her throat. “Thought you were Umbridge for a second,” she said. “You shouldn’t do that.”

Cho grimaced, her cheeks turning red. Her hair, Parvati noticed, was tinted purple today, glimmering as it caught the light. 

“Sorry,” she said. “I feel like I’m always catching you at a wrong time.”

“Not this time,” Parvati smiled, taking a breath and catching Lavender’s eye from across the room. “I’m sorry about last time. Sofiya’s teething, so she’s been really miserable.”

“I can understand that,” Cho said. “I wanted to rip my head off when my wisdom teeth came through.”

Parvati laughed again and immediately regretted it. She had no idea where the sound was coming from, a cross between a squeal and a snort.

“How can I help you?” she asked.

Cho twisted her fingers together, the flush in her cheeks deepening. “Feel free to hex me out of the shop if this is too forward,” she said, and Parvati felt a thrilling rush at the words. “But I was looking to see if you were open to collaborating on a product?”

The question was put so gently and quietly that it really shouldn’t have felt like such a sledgehammer. If she hadn’t had the shelf full of jars behind her back, Parvati knew she would’ve probably fallen over with the force of her disappointment. 

“A collaboration on a product,” she repeated. Cho nodded.

“Yeah,” she said. “I know it’s all your products and stuff and I’d fully understand if you don’t want to. But I have an idea for something, but I don’t have any way to market it, and I don’t think it’s very cost-effective for me to go at it alone so I thought I’d approach you first…”

As she spoke, she took out a sleek grey folder from underneath her robes. Parvati’s eyes lingered a little too long on Cho’s slender fingers, nails clipped neatly across and filed down.

“I have a proper proposal and everything,” Cho said. “Budget breakdown, all the boring things.”

Parvati nodded. She could see Lavender’s curious gaze over Cho’s shoulder, and she knew, even if she couldn’t see, that Padma would be peering curiously over the counter, trying to get a look at what was going on.

She mustered up her best professional smile. “Why don’t you come into the office so we can talk in private?”

Cho beamed. Parvati’s knees almost buckled, but she steeled herself and led her to the back of the shop.

* * *

Working with Cho was smoother than Parvati’s Triple-Use-Chocolate Syrup ( _three servings in a single vial)_. The proposal was neat and straightforward, and Parvati saw the space that Cho had made for her in the collaboration and slotted herself neatly into it. 

This meant a couple of long nights pressed together in the dingy, cramped excuse for a cellar underneath the shop, trying to figure out exactly how much Elixir of Euphoria should go into the chocolate for maximum impact. 

It was hot in there, and Parvati always left her robes upstairs, preferring to work in one of Lavender’s old t-shirts, but Cho never took off her robes until the fifth night in, when no amount of cooling charms could stop the sweat from beading at her temples.

“You really should take that off,” Parvati said with a smile. “I promise nothing will happen. We’re very lucky, the spiders stay away from here.”

“It’s not the spiders I’m worried about,” Cho said, shrugging off her robes and revealing a pair of gorgeously muscular, fully tattooed arms. Parvati couldn’t make out the design because the sight had her light-headed already.

She cleared her throat and returned to the chocolate. Tempering it was hard enough without needing to figure out when exactly to cast a charm into it or add drops of potion. She didn’t need the added distraction of Cho’s arms, the beautiful forest landscape over her biceps fading into lakes by her elbows with two completely different sceneries on each arm; one full of merpeople, the other with what looked like a sea snake twining around her forearm.

This was proven when the chocolate burned almost immediately after she turned back to it.

“Argh, fuck!”

“What happened?”

As she moved to look into the pot, Cho squeezed close to Parvati, those horribly dangerous arms of hers wrapping around her for a split second, touching skin. A sugary, delicious shudder of pleasure fizzled through Parvati.

“Burned the chocolate. I’ll have to start again.”

Waving her wand, she cleaned up the mess and began to chop up the bar of chocolate to start all over again. Cho was working on her own potion, the sweet fumes heady and comfortable, curling through Parvati’s nostrils and tipping her over the edge of a giggle. She bit down on it - she didn’t know why, but whenever Cho was around, her laughter was less dignified, her speech less articulate. Lavender and Padma’s mischievous looks didn’t help matters.

“So uh…” Parvati said, scrambling for something to break the quiet and to distract herself from Cho’s tattoos. “What do you do?”

Cho quirked up a brow in confusion. Sweat glistened over her forehead and glittered over her hairline. “What do I do… when?”

Parvati cringed. “For work I mean,” she said quickly. “Unless this is your new full time gig, in which case I’m really sorry.” She gestured at the chocolate, this time heating up much more evenly. “I promise I’ll do better.”

Cho snorted. “This is a side job,” she said. “I’m at the Ministry. Department of Magical Regulations. Potions and Antidotes Division.”

“Half expecting you to whip out a business card now,” Parvati said with a smirk. Cho laughed.

“You have my address already,” she said. “Write me, Floo me anytime you like.”

Parvati smiled, melting into Cho’s grin. 

The chocolate burned again.

“Fuck!”

* * *

Their first batch was a hit. 

Cheery-chips, Lavender had called them, and Parvati, already sick of working on the product, had agreed on that as a tentative name. Cho and Padma seemed less creatively inclined, and the name had stuck by the time they had to order packaging. Sunshine yellow boxes with happy blue lettering. Sofiya loved them, enthusiastically tearing through one of the boxes before Padma had caught her and repaired it.

It was chocolate infused with Elixir of Euphoria, ideal for sufferers of melancholia, depression, or Dementor attacks. Usually Parvati enjoyed seeing her products fly off the shelves, but selling out of their first batch before the end of the week felt bittersweet. Great because it was wonderful for business, and because seeing Cho’s smile was absolutely everything, but upsetting because of how many people seemed to need it. 

More upsetting because she recognised most of her customers. They’d put in an advert in the _Prophet_ the week before it had launched, and most of the people that had showed up on launch day were members of the DA. Sure they’d come to support her when she’d first opened the Lovebite, but this was different. 

She spotted Harry lingering in a corner with Ron and George, clutching nearly five boxes of his own. Ginny placing an order for six boxes for her and Luna and coming to pick them up with an overenthusiastic thank you (‘ _this is gonna be so good to make hot chocolate with in the morning - work’s gonna get so much easier_ ’). Even Pansy Parkinson flitted in, holding pinkies with Millicent Bulstrode, giving Parvati a tentative glance over the counter before asking quietly if Cheery-chips were a permanent addition to their product line.

“We’re hoping to make it so,” Parvati said, sealing the paper bag and passing it to her. “But we’re looking to see how sales go before we keep going.”

Pansy looked like she was on the verge of saying something, and Parvati could’ve sworn she’d seen her lips move, but she couldn’t hear it over the cheery jingle they’d had playing in honour of the occasion. The customer behind her cleared their throat, and Parvati allowed herself a second to watch her leave before turning to the new person.

At the end of the week, while she was closing up with a sleeping Sofiya in her baby carrier, Cho dropped by again. Swamped with work during the day, she’d only managed to come during the evenings. This week, her hair gleamed green when it caught the light, and she shrugged off her robes and gave Parvati a huge smile.

Oh, those tattoos were going to be the death of her. And she was holding a baby. This boded very badly.

“How’s it been?” Cho asked, striding up to her with her robes folded over her arm. “I’m so sorry I can’t come by during the day, work’s been awful lately.”

“It’s fine,” Parvati said, sitting on the nearest stool because she didn’t trust that her legs could hold her upright for very long. “We’ve practically sold out.”

Cho’s eyes widened. “What?”

Parvati gestured at the shelf near the counter, where two lone boxes of Cheery-chips sat. “We’ve cleaned out our stock,” she said. “Padma’ll have the final numbers tomorrow - she’s gone on a date tonight, and Lavender was on baby duty all of yesterday, so she’s having some alone time with some interesting bath bombs.” She chuckled. “The bathroom’s going to be such a mess. A rainbow mess, but a mess nonetheless.”

Cho beamed, her gaze softening as it fell on Sofiya, slumbering quietly. “Do they parent with you then?” she asked, pulling up a stool and straddling it. Parvati didn’t _want_ to notice the broadness of Cho’s thighs or the way her trousers tightened around her legs when she sat, but there she was, noticing, her mind travelling somewhere horrifically inappropriate.

“Well, I do the bulk of it,” Parvati said. “But they’re always there. Lav takes sleep time more often than I do, because Sofiya falls asleep faster with her. I usually clean up and lock up on those nights and make dinner for everyone. Padma does lunch and she takes her out more than I can - I’ve got this place to run too, so I usually have to juggle. It was easier when she was smaller. She wants to try to walk more now, but she still needs to hold things, and I can’t exactly let her loose in the shop.”

“Yeah,” Cho said with a gentle smile. Parvati’s heart fluttered, but she tried not to let herself linger.

“Lots of old DA people came in,” she said, steering the conversation back to business where it was safer. “They bought out nearly half the stock.”

A tiny frown creased Cho’s forehead. “Oh,” she said. Parvati nodded.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I don’t know how to feel about it. I’m glad that it’s doing well for the numbers but…” She sighed, hugging Sofiya a little tighter, smelling her soft baby smell. “Don’t you always hope that, even though things are still shit for you, the others are doing better?”

She felt a hand on her knee and a sweet sort of tremble shook her. Cho stroked her knee with her thumb and nodded.

“That’s why I thought about doing this,” she said. “I know a lot of them find it hard to really talk about what happened, to deal with it at St Mungo’s with the Healers… but I figured if I could help people start functioning even a little better…”

“Better for people to eat some chocolate than actually start taking Elixir of Euphoria,” Parvati said, finally understanding Cho’s real motive. “Or even casting a Cheering Charm.”

“It’s not as real when you’re just eating chocolate,” Cho said with a shrug. “You can just eat it and pretend the war didn’t mess you up.”

They fell into a tense silence. The only sound in the shop was the music floating through the speakers on the wall, a soft, sleepy melody that was a stark contrast to the morning’s more upbeat tunes and the afternoon’s lively jingles. Parvati’s thoughts were churning too quickly for her to make sense of them, and Cho’s hand on her knee was only making her heart race faster.

Sofiya let out a soft cry, whimpering in hunger, breaking the spell. Parvati stood up.

“I should…”

“You should,” Cho said, standing and putting the stool aside. “I’ll see you tomorrow to discuss where we want to take the next batch?”

Parvati smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.”

* * *

Their plans for a second batch were interrupted when reports of a customer being taken to St Mungo’s came rushing in. Lavender sprinted into the shop with the news while Cho was helping Sofiya walk, her chubby little fists gripping Cho’s fingers for dear life as she took several determined steps towards the shelves. Parvati tried to ignore the sight of it, how it made her heart twist in many pleasurable ways. Sofiya’s grin was wide and her squeals were ecstatic and stubborn, but Cho kept her out of reach of anything that could fall and hurt her. For just a second, Parvati allowed herself to indulge in the daydream of having another person in their little parenting team - this time someone who could be a partner too.

“It would seem,” Lavender panted, shaking Parvati out of her thoughts and trying not to alarm the customer at the counter, “that eating two boxes of the happies in one go is inadvisable.”

Parvati balked. Cho looked up, concerned. Padma was summoned. After several tense meetings, including a few inspections from Cho’s own department as well as from St Mungo’s, Parvati was let off with a warning and an order to label her packaging. 

The second batch came with a large red tag slapped across the back. 

PLEASE EXERCISE CAUTION WHEN CONSUMING CHEERY-CHIPS. RECOMMENDED PORTION SIZE: 8 CHIPS PER ADULT, 4 CHIPS PER CHILD. EATING MORE THAN TWO BOXES AT ONCE MAY CAUSE UNCONTROLLABLE HYSTERIA.

Apart from the fright of being inspected and almost shut down, everything else seemed like it was finally falling into place. Sofiya began to enjoy Cho’s presence, even going so far as to cry when she left, always a sign that she liked someone. With the Cheery-chips such a vast success, Parvati tentatively asked Cho if she’d be open to collaborating on more products, and they eventually set to work on a new line of mood-altering sweets and chocolates. There were the Tickle-Mints, that gave your stomach a funny sensation for five minutes after swallowing ( _do not eat more than one in a twenty-four hour period_ ), Serenity Squares, inch-long chocolate and strawberry squares that soothed even the worst agitations ( _no more than five a day_ ) and Parvati’s personal favourite, Floral Allsorts, a mix of chocolates and sweets shaped like different sorts of flowers, guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

“D’you think St Mungo’s will come round telling us that we can’t sell these?” Parvati asked Cho one evening while they brought back a whole cartload of boxes from one of their suppliers. “Because they’re mood-altering and have all these side effects and I’m honestly worried about people getting addicted to them.”

A pensive look crossed Cho’s face, her black hair gleaming reddish under the street lights. “I thought about that too,” she said. “Some people take them like non-prescription antidotes, but I know there shouldn’t be any permanent side effects. I made sure of that when I brewed the potions.”

“Yeah?”

Cho nodded. “The Elixir of Euphoria we have in the Cheery-chips now,” she said, gesturing with a slender-fingered hand that Parvati desperately wanted to hold. “If you drank what I brewed, it wouldn’t have the same effect as a normal dose. You’d feel a little happier, probably, but it won’t actually induce euphoria. Just a smile and a better mood for a few hours.”

“Mmm,” Parvati said, pushing the cart up the ramp when they reached the entrance of the shop. “I see your point.”

Cho held the door open and Parvati shoved the cart in with a grunt. They’d closed early today, to count stock, clean up, do some accounts, and also because Padma wanted some quality time with Sofiya. Parvati had agreed to go on the stock run, but she now found herself facing the prospect of inviting Cho to dinner. She had no idea if Cho would want to stay, but she realised she was desperate for at least a few more moments with her.

Cho seemed to take the choice out of her hands. “Can I help you put these away?” she asked.

“That would be great, thank you,” Parvati said. She magicked open the door to the storeroom, letting Cho levitate the boxes inside and directed her to the shelves. 

“Random question,” Cho said, levitating the final box onto the top shelf and squinting to see if it was straight. “Who does Sofiya like the best?”

“Me, obviously,” Parvati said. Cho laughed at that, her eyes crinkling in such a sweet way that made Parvati wonder if she could keep making her laugh, just to see that happen again. “No, seriously, she likes me the best. Then Lav, then Padma - which we think is ironic because Padma carried her, but Padma says she recognises her real mother, and that’s why she’s so close to me.”

“Ah,” Cho nodded. Parvati smiled.

“Padma said it was the first and last time she was ever going to get pregnant,” she said. “It took three tries - the sperm donor was very kind, but we were really worried it wouldn’t take, and that would mean we’d have to look into maybe harvesting her eggs, which she wasn’t really comfortable with.” She shrugged. “I didn’t want her to go through that.”

“Mmm,” Cho said, nodding again. “Did you always want kids?”

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Parvati said, dusting off one of the boxes. “Seriously, one of my first memories is when Padma and I were little and I said I wanted to be a mum, and one of our cousins was like, you can’t be a mum, only girls can be mums.” A snort of laughter escaped her nose. “Padma and I were _so_ confused.”

“Aw,” Cho smiled. “How old were you?”

“Three maybe? Merlin, I don’t even know.” Parvati put a hand over her head and sighed. “Feels like a whole different lifetime ago.”

“Doesn’t it?” Cho sighed, leaning against one of the shelves. Parvati looked at her, but Cho was staring into the distance. “Feels like I was a completely different person.”

“Feels like that for me too,” Parvati said. “I was so young. Never thought I could feel this heavy.” She sighed, hugging herself. “But having Sofiya is such a joy. She makes us so happy. Makes us hope again.”

“I can see how,” Cho smiled. “My cousins are starting to have babies and I can’t get enough of them. I love seeing them figure out the world, a world without war hopefully.” She stared at her fingers, then clenched her fists. “Always thought I’d go that route,” she said. “I thought I’d be married to a man right now, having children myself. Things look so different now. I feel so lost.”

“Yeah?” Parvati asked, her heart clenching, worried for an answer she couldn’t quite anticipate.

“I want children,” Cho said. “But definitely not with a man. And I don’t know if I’m up for carrying them anymore. I don’t know if it would make the dysphoria worse.”

Parvati felt a pang in her chest. She stepped closer to Cho, reaching out and placing a hand on her arm. “Does it get really bad?” she asked.

“Sometimes yeah,” Cho said, staring at her hands again. “It’ll help if I can get top surgery maybe. I know they do it at St Mungo’s but there’s such a long waiting list, and it feels more daunting than I’d like.” She sighed, turning to Parvati. “Was all of this complicated for you?”

“No,” Parvati said, squeezing Cho’s arm. “But I know it can be for some people.”

Cho looked frustrated, her brow creasing in a deep frown. “It feels stupid that it is,” she said. “I feel like I should know myself better than this. Like, I survived a whole war for Merlin’s sake. And now I’m stumped by gender. It’s like yes, I’m a woman, but also, not really?” She threw up her hands and groaned.

“It’s not stupid,” Parvati said, a little more steel in her voice. “It was simple for me, yeah. My family was so supportive - silly childhood logic aside, even that cousin came around once he understood. But that doesn’t make your experience invalid. You grow into things at your own pace you know? Your journey is your own.” She scowled. “And fuck the war. Didn’t help any of us.”

Cho sighed. “Thanks,” she said, a tight smile growing around her lips. 

The words fell out of Parvati’s mouth before she could help herself. “D’you want to stay for dinner?” she asked. “I really think Sofiya would love to have you. She hates it when you leave.”

Cho’s smile broadened immediately, and Parvati’s heart soared. “I’d love that.”

* * *

Cho began to stay for more dinners, and and then some lunches, and then - one whole night.

It was accidental. Cho had come by the shop to discuss a few details of the Tickle-Mints, but it had started raining so violently that the shop windows had started to rattle and Sofiya had begun to wail in fright.

“No way you’re going home in this,” Parvati said, ushering Cho upstairs, rocking Sofiya and trying to soothe her. “Not even through the Floo, I know how it gets on nights like this.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose…”

“No imposition.” Parvati turned to Cho, whose hair had a yellow-gold sheen to it tonight. “You’re most welcome here.”

Lightning flashed across the windows, followed by the loudest crack of thunder Parvati had ever heard. Sofiya yelled, sobbing right into Parvati’s chest, and Cho got around to casting some very quick soundproofing charms around the flat.

It took a while to soothe Sofiya, who refused to let go of Parvati all night. Cho took over dinner instead - Lavender and Padma were already out, and stuck by Parvati’s estimation. It was just them in the house.

Dinner was chicken rice and soup, with mashed vegetables for a still frightened Sofiya, who kept whimpering, eyes reddened, voice raw from screaming. Cho helped Parvati feed her while she clung to the front of Parvati’s robes, occasionally feeding Parvati a spoonful of rice herself. “It’s just faster that way,” she said, when Parvati raised her eyebrow. Not wanting to argue, she let Cho feed Sofiya and herself until both their bowls were completely empty.

“This was really good, thanks,” she said. “Don’t mind the dishes, I’ll do them later.”

“I’ve got them,” Cho said, and she had the kitchen cleaned in a thrice.

After a much more peaceful bottle-feeding, Sofiya was asleep on Parvati’s chest, and she could finally put her down. Arms aching, she sighed, staring at her in the crib. With a tiny pout and a determined brow, Sofiya was growing to look more and more like Parvati every day, but she could see bits of Padma curling around her personality, and fragments of Lavender creeping into her mannerisms. They hadn’t really thought they could do anything worthwhile after the war, but looking at Sofiya every night, with her soft baby hair beginning to grow past her ears and her little fists balled up against an invisible enemy, it felt like something inside her was knitting her soul back together.

“All good?” 

Cho’s whisper in the dimly lit room made Parvati gasp. She turned to see Cho smiling apologetically. “Ah, sorry,” she said. “Just wanted to check in.”

“It’s all good,” Parvati murmured. “Um, I’d ask you to sleep on the couch but it’s super lumpy and guaranteed to give you a backache, and I’d rather give you my bed, but I need to be near Sofiya in case she wakes up hungry, so we’ll have to share - if you’re okay with that.”

Cho glanced at the bed. “Plenty of space for two,” she said, and Parvati nodded. She had been so consumed with the practical nature of her decision that she didn’t realise, even after giving Cho one of Padma’s t-shirts and boxers to wear to sleep, the real implications of what she’d actually done.

Then, they were there in the violet-tinged light of the room, bodies pressed up much closer than Parvati had anticipated, warm under the quilt, under the muffled patter of the rain and the muted rolls of thunder.

“Thanks for dinner,” Parvati said. “And for helping with Sof. She really likes you.”

“I’m glad she does,” Cho said, turning over a little so Parvati could see her pupils glinting in the dim light. “It’s important to me that she does.”

“Oh?” Her heart stilled. She knew this was a conversation that had them on the precipice of something… something… something that could be good, but she was terrified of hoping for.

For a moment, Parvati felt like screaming as hard as Sofiya had when the thunder had struck.

“She’s your daughter,” Cho said. “And… you’ve become important to me, Parvati. So Sofiya’s important too.”

Parvati didn’t know what it meant, and evidently, Cho was too shy to extrapolate. With a tiny smile, she turned so she was facing the ceiling, closing her eyes and leaving Parvati reeling. With a racing heart, she tried to take some deep breaths before her exhaustion whisked her away.

Sofiya slept through the night, and Parvati woke up wrapped in an embrace with Cho, who was already awake and softly stroking her hair.

“Did I wake you?” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

Parvati blinked and shook her head. “No,” she murmured, wiping the sleep from her eyes and turning to the crib to see Sofiya sitting up, the hair on the back of her head standing straight up as she cooed to her stuffed fish.

“She’s been having a conversation for about ten minutes now,” Cho murmured. In the soft morning light, she looked sweet and happy, and Parvati found herself feeling sweet and happy too.

She snuggled closer to Cho, content to just wait a minute or two before getting up to make breakfast.

* * *

With the new product line being such a success, Lovebite’s sales started to really pick up, with customers placing orders for their regular product lines too. For the first time in months, Parvati felt like she could breathe again.

To celebrate, she threw a dinner party, with her parents, Padma and Lavender, Cho, and a few other friends. But nothing could’ve really prepared her for Cho asking her and Sofiya out on a picnic that weekend.

“I thought it might be nice to have a change of scene,” she said. “If Padma and Lavender don’t mind you being gone for a few hours. I promise we’ll come back soon.”

“They won’t mind,” Parvati said, knowing that the only thing Lavender and Padma _would_ mind would be how out of the blue this all seemed. She could almost hear Lavender in her head now. _You never even told us there was something going on!_ she’d shriek, before immediately dragging all the details out of her.

Not that there were details to drag. Parvati wasn’t even sure that this wasn’t just a platonic outing, something to make Sofiya happy, but her mind kept wandering back to Cho’s declaration the previous night. _You’re important to me_ , kept echoing in her head, even as they continued their two-person production line in the cellar every few nights. Cho hadn’t brought it up since, and Parvati hadn’t dared ask.

In any case, it wasn’t like they’d had a lot of time to explore it. With the new stock and bigger sales, they barely had a moment to themselves. Smaller stores were beginning to ask to stock their products - even the new owner of Florean Fortescue’s ice cream shop had dropped in to ask if the Lovebite could supply them with Floral Allsorts to use in one of their new ice cream flavours. They’d hired a part time assistant for weekends, which helped a bit.

She was right about Lavender and Padma wanting to interrogate her, but to her grand surprise, neither one of them seemed to be particularly shocked at the implication that Cho might have feelings for her.

“What?” she said, dropping her ladle. Sofiya giggled from the high chair and threw the spoon she was playing with across the room.

“It was so obvious Parvati,” Padma said, summoning the spoon lazily and putting it back in Sofiya’s hands with an anti-throw spell. “The way she looks at you all the time. I’ve had so many people ask me if you guys are a thing.”

“What people?” Parvati exclaimed, picking up the ladle and cleaning it before dipping it into the pot again to stir. 

“People,” Padma said, in that annoying way that triggered a deep, childhood-era rage in Parvati. But before she could retort, Lavender spoke up.

“Ginny and Luna asked me a couple of days ago when I told them that it’s you and Cho behind the new stuff,” she said. “And then I think Hermione saw you two walking down the street together and came in and asked about it because she said there’s a couples’ only party happening in a few months and if you guys would be interested.”

“We’re not even a couple,” Parvati said, lowering the flame on the stove a little as Sofiya tried to toss the spoon again, giggling when it came floating back. “We’re just - friendly business partners?” 

She paused over her cooking, frowning, suddenly worried. “What if we try,” she said, “and things go badly. What happens to the happy sweets?”

“Cho’s a professional,” Padma said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “She won’t let that get in the way of this.”

“We could expand the cellar a little to give you both a little room,” Lavender said with a wink. Padma threw her head back and laughed and Parvati flicked a carrot at her.

By the time Sunday morning rolled around, Parvati’s nerves were so frayed she had half a mind to cancel, even though she knew it would be the height of rudeness at the last minute. But seeing Cho smiling on her doorstep - and seeing Sofiya squeal and bounce at her - made her swallow her fear. 

“Thanks,” she said, when Cho took Sofiya from her so she could heft the baby bag over her shoulder. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere nice,” Cho smiled, offering an arm. She was dressed in jeans and a grey jumper with the sleeves rolled up, and Parvati’s heart leapt to her throat. Her hair was tinged with pink today, visible when she angled her head, and her fade was smoother, fresher, with the length on top significantly shorter than it had been. Parvati gulped, tried to ignore her butterflies, and looped her arm through Cho’s before stepping out.

They settled down in a nice Muggle park. It was good that the sun was out, with just enough cloud cover for it to be pleasant. Cho spread the blanket out and didn’t let Parvati lift a finger. She took out some sandwiches, cake, assorted pastries, and some paper plates and napkins before helping Sofiya waddle around the grass. Parvati watched them, nibbling on a sandwich, her heart spilling over with happiness like she’d never known. Cho’s face was radiant, with a bright smile and gleaming eyes as she laughed with Sofiya, who squealed and toddled around as fast as she could while holding into both of Cho’s hands.

The faint sounds of buskers began to reach her ears; Parvati could barely make out the song, but she swayed slowly to the rhythm, allowing herself to sink into the lovely fantasy of starting a family with Cho. Maybe adopting other children so Sofiya could have siblings. Having someone to snuggle up to at night. Snuggle… and well… perhaps some other things…

Eventually, Cho and Sofiya returned to the blanket, where the latter ate a very enthusiastic helping of mashed pumpkin and peas, and chewed her way slowly through half a banana. Cho and Parvati made their way through huge helpings of food, but it was while eating cake and laughing about a stupid pun that Cho leaned in.

“You have a little frosting on your…” she murmured, raising her hand towards Parvati’s mouth but not touching. Parvati stilled, nodding slowly, and Cho pressed in gently with her thumb, wiping away the frosting, though her eyes stayed glued to Parvati’s lips.

With a surge of courage suddenly coursing through, Parvati leaned in and kissed her. Cho tasted sweet, her lips soft and yielding gently as Parvati pressed in, slowly nudging forward with her tongue. It felt electric, like there were sparks leaping over the surface of her skin, illuminating her with a perfect happiness.

Sofiya’s babbling broke them apart. Cho laughed, red-cheeked and beaming, and Parvati lifted Sofiya onto her lap. “Do you want to be kissed too?” she chuckled, pressing a soft one to Sofiya’s head. Cho blew her some kisses and Sofiya held out her arms towards her, inching closer.

“Wow,” Parvati said, when Cho took Sofiya from her and Sofiya began to babble away. “I guess she likes you best now.”

Cho’s answering laugh was brighter than the morning sunlight. Parvati’s heart felt like it had been blown wide open, ready to receive the light. She had no idea what to expect, but, as Cho slipped her fingers through hers and kissed her again, she had a feeling it was going to be something good.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading <3


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